YEREVAN. – Every year, people in Armenia fall into shocks from New Year shopping, according to Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times) newspaper.   

“These shocks are directly proportional to the price shocks. And the price shocks, in turn, are due to the community’s wishes to celebrate New Year as lavishly as possible.

“The more the demand grows, the prices also rise that much [more].

“If we ‘sort’ our New Year rituals, we will see that we direct the main part of the expenses at foods, a considerable part of which we just dump, later.

“To be honest, no one knows how to surmount this widespread habit of making food a fetish. And unless this is surmounted, New Year will be a symbol of common shocks, instead of being a holiday [in Armenia],” wrote Haykakan Zhamanak.